2010
#158,432
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 102
First available Census row
Per 100,000 0.03
Very Rare Last name
Boekweg
A Dutch toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "book path" or "book road".
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 120 Americans carry the last name Boekweg. That puts it at #152,989 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,856,286 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Boekweg surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
Bearers in the US
120
1 in 2,856,286
Census rank
#152,989
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
105
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 105 bearers of the surname Boekweg in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 152989th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Boekweg, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Boekweg
The surname Boekweg is of Dutch origin, likely appearing in records as early as the 16th century. It is thought to be derived from the Middle Dutch words "boek" meaning book and "weg" meaning way or road, potentially referring to a trade route or path used by traveling booksellers or scribes.
One of the earliest known references to the name appears in a municipal record from the city of Leiden in 1572, where a merchant named Pieter Boekweg is listed as renting a stall in the local market. This provides evidence that the name was already established in the region during the late Renaissance period.
In the 17th century, the Boekweg name can be found in several birth and marriage records from the provinces of North and South Holland. Notable individuals from this era include Jan Boekweg (1632-1698), a master woodcarver from Amsterdam renowned for his intricate church altarpieces and pulpits.
By the 1700s, the Boekweg family had spread to other parts of the Netherlands and beyond. Joost Boekweg (1718-1801) was a celebrated landscape painter from Dordrecht, whose pastoral scenes captured the beauty of the Dutch countryside. Another Boekweg of note was Maarten (1745-1825), a skilled cartographer who produced some of the most detailed maps of the era.
As Dutch explorers and traders ventured further abroad in the 18th and 19th centuries, the Boekweg name began appearing in colonial outposts and settlements. One such example is Willem Boekweg (1793-1867), a prosperous merchant and landowner in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia).
Other prominent Boekwegs throughout history include Catharina (1820-1901), a pioneering educator who established several schools for underprivileged children in Rotterdam, and Hendrik (1856-1914), a respected civil engineer responsible for the construction of numerous bridges and canals across the Netherlands.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Boekweg
Among Census respondents with the surname Boekweg, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%).
The bar chart below shows how Boekweg bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Boekweg surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.4% · 97
- Two or more races4.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 1
Timeline
Historical Census data for Boekweg
Boekweg appears in 2 published Census surname files: 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2020
#152,989
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 105
+3 bearers (+2.9%)
Per 100,000 0.04
Rank movement Up 5,443 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | #158,432 | 102 | 0.03 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2020 | #152,989 | 105 | 0.04 | +3 bearers (+2.9%) | Up 5,443 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Boekweg surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #158,432 | #152,989 | 3.4% |
| Count | 102 | 105 | 2.9% |
| Per 100K | 0.03 | 0.04 | 17.1% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Boekweg bearers went from 102 to 105 (+2.9% change). The surname moved up 5,443 positions in the national ranking, going from #158,432 to #152,989.
FAQ
Boekweg surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Boekweg?
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the surname Boekweg. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,856,286 residents.
How common is Boekweg?
Boekweg ranks #152,989 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 105 people with the surname Boekweg. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (120), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Boekweg.
Has Boekweg become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Boekweg went from 102 recorded bearers to 105. That is an increase of 3 (+2.9%). In the national ranking it rose from #158,432 to #152,989.
What does the Census say about the background of Boekweg?
Among Census respondents with the surname Boekweg, the largest self-reported group is White at 92.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Boekweg in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (97 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Boekweg appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (92.4%), Two or More Races (4.8%), American Indian/Alaska Native (1.9%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Boekweg (2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Boekweg mean?
A Dutch toponymic surname derived from a place name meaning "book path" or "book road". The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Boekweg (0.04 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How many people have the surname Boekweg?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.